Hey everypony.

I know what some of you are thinking, Matt's a brave guy and he isn't scared of anything. Hell, he even took on a murderous, blood-thirsty alicorn and saved Canterlot. At this point, it seems he isn't scared of anything. Does he have at least one flaw?

Well, he will now. Because I am scared of something, something that I shouldn't be scared of anymore, but I am. And this chapter is gonna be about my fear.

To explain a little better, one of my readers once asked if Matt had any flaws like some of the main 6 do. I took that into consideration and came up with something.

So anyway, on with the chapter and enjoy!

Chapter 35: Don't stick it to the pony

It's been two days since my family returned to the human world. It's been hard, but I've finally gotten over it and things are back to normal.

But I did make one mistake on the night they went back, I forgot to tell Princess Celestia about my recent nightmares. It must have been because of all the commotion with my family.

Once I realised that I forgot, I felt so stupid. However, I haven't had a nightmare for the last few days, so they may have stopped and now there was no need to inform the Princess about them.

Ponyville streets

It was a chilly day today; the pegasi were flying in the sky covering the bright blue sky with dark clouds; meaning it was going to rain soon. I would be up there helping them, but I had to do my delivery job for Applejack.

Also, the sun was going down. Soon, the sky would be dark and filled with rain clouds. There wouldn't even be stars or moonlight to brighten the way for those who worked late.

Unfortunately for me, I was still in the streets making my deliveries. Jeff was with me, he wasn't comfortable with stormy weather, he says it's terrible weather for flying and that he nearly crashed once in a storm.

"Whow…look at that sky! Have I ever told you how much I hated rain storms?" Jeff said as he stared up at the dark clouds.

I turned my head around to face him. "Yeah, you have. But we shouldn't focus on the sky right now, we should keep our focus on the job so we can get home before the storm actually begins." I said.

Jeff then looked at me and nodded. "You're right, dude. Anything to get the hay out of here, I'm not dealin' with this stuff again." he stated.

Jeff then flew off my back and into the cart; he reached into it and pulled out the clip-board.

"Ok…the next delivery is at-AHH." He yelled as a big force of wind blew in our faces; forcing us to close our eyes tightly.

Once the wind stopped, Jeff looked over to me. "Dude, this thing's gettin' worse by the minute. Maybe we should leave it, return Applejack's cart, and go home." He yelled over the wind.

I shook my head. "We can't do that, Jeff. Applejack will have both our asses if we do, we have to finish the job." I yelled back.

Jeff gave me a small glare. "I don't care if Applejack will have my beak, I'm not stayin' out here waitin' to be struck by lightnin' or somethin' like that." He stated with his wings crossed.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, you go home. Just tell me where I need to go next!" I said.

Jeff then looked back at the clip-board and read it. "The next place is Town Hall, can I go now?" He asked.

I let out a loud sigh. "Yes, you can go." I said as I pointed in the direction to the library.

"Jeff, out." Jeff yelled before he shot off in the air towards the library. I don't think I've ever seen him fly so fast, he must really not like rain storms.

Suddenly, I heard the clouds thunder above me and I began to get back to work. The sooner I got it done, the sooner I could go home. I forced myself to walk through the powerful wind as I headed towards the Town Hall.

That night: Library

Today had to be the longest working day I've had since I came here, I had so many deliveries to make that by the time I was finished, it was night time.

And to make things worse, it was now raining heavily all over town. I galloped as fast as I could towards the library. The freezing cold rain showered over my body, not to mention the cold wind blowing harder every minute.

But finally, I reached the library and burst through the front door to enter the warmth. I then slammed the door behind me to not allow any rain or cold wind to come inside.

I stood there panting, trying to catch my breath. My hooves were muddy, my coat was soaked, and my mane was flat and dripping like crazy. I felt so cold, I was staring to shiver.

I didn't want to move, I was worried that I'd feel a cold breeze if I did. I just wanted to stand there and wait until I got warm.

Just then, Twilight came into the room. "Matt, where've you been? This storm is really bad, I was getting wor-(GASP)" she gasped loudly at the sight of my soaked, messy state.

Twilight quickly galloped up to me with a worried look on her face. "Matt, are you ok? What happened to you?" She said.

"I-I-I'm…f-fine, T-Twilight." I said as I continued to shiver on the spot.

Twilight then placed her hoof on my cheek and felt how cold it was, it was freezing. Twilight then pulled her hoof away. "Matt, you're freezing. We have to get you warm, I'm giving you a nice hot shower." She stated.

"I-I-I'm fine…T-Twilight…r-really." I said still shivering.

Twilight then gave me a firm look. "No exceptions, Matt. You're having a shower to get you warm and to clean all that mud off your hooves." She said.

With that, her horn glowed and I felt myself lift off the ground and hovered me towards the bathroom, Twilight followed me as she kept her spell going.

Once in the bathroom, Twilight placed me down on the floor before she walked over to the shower. She used her magic to turn the water on and kept sticking her hoof under the falling water to check the temperature.

Once it was warm enough, Twilight looked over to me with a sweet smile. "Ok, Matt. it's nice and hot now, go on in."

I still shivered as I walked over to her, I then stepped into the shower and got under the water.

I took deep breaths through my nostrils as I felt the coldness melt off my body with the warm water, the mud on my hooves began the wash away and run down the drain along with the water.

Then something unexpected happened, Twilight stepped into the shower with me and used her magic to start scrubbing the rain and mud off my back with a sponge.

I couldn't help but blush at this, Twilight was in the shower with me. I shuttered as I felt the sponge rub slowly up and down my back. "How does that feel, Matt?" I heard her ask.

"…Amazing." I said as I closed my eyes closed, I sat down to enjoy the feeling. It truly was amazing, the feeling of the hot water warming my frozen body, and the felling of the girl I loved scrubbing my back.

At one point, Twilight held the sponge up against the shower hose so it could absorb more water. Once she saw the sponge was full of hot water, she hovered it over my head and used her magic to twist it; releasing the collected warm water over my head, it felt so good.

I then saw the sponge hover beside me and I grabbed it with my hoof before I turned around to face Twilight, she looked so beautiful with her mane all flat and wet. "My turn." I said softly.

Twilight giggled before she turned her back to me and sat down, I then started to scrub her by rubbing the sponge around in circles on her back.

My face burned as I blushed deeply, I couldn't believe I was actually doing this with Twilight. I did the same as she did and collected water in the sponge before I released it above her head.

After I had scrubbed Twilight for a few minutes, she turned around to face me and we looked into each other's eyes. As I looked at the loving smile on her face, I couldn't help but lean forward to her and we shared a deep kiss.

We continued to kiss as the shower water continued to rain down on us, we then broke the kiss before I wrapped my arms around her and held her close to me as we felt each other's love.

And hour later, after drying off from the shower, I was now lying in front of the fireplace with a towel wrapped around me as I watched the flames.

Unfortunately, I found out that I had returned to the library too late and I had caught a cold. My nose was slightly blocked and I was sniffing a lot.

Twilight then walked into the room with a towel over her body, she was using her magic to hovering two mugs of coffee beside her. One of the mugs was velvet and the other was green.

Once Twilight reached me, she lied down beside me and hovered the green mug over to me. I looked at it and sniffed my nose again; I then grabbed it with my hoof and looked inside at the steaming light-brown liquid inside it.

I didn't normally drink coffee, but seeing the sweet look on Twilight's face made me want to try it for her, I smiled back before I looked back down at my mug.

I took a deep breath before I took a sip of it, the coffee felt warm and flavourful. I wasn't so fond of the warmth, but the flavour tasted nice.

After I swallowed the coffee, I smiled warmly at Twilight. "Thanks, Twi." I said.

Twilight smiled warmly back. Just then, I sneezed loudly and sniffed my nose again. Twilight gave me a look of pity before she nudged up next to me so we'd share our body heat.

We smiled as we looked at each other lovingly. "…I love you, Matt." Twilight said.

"I love you too, Twi." I responded before I leaned forward to kiss her, only for her to stop me by placing her hoof on my lips.

"Err…Matt, your cold…." Twilight said trying to explain.

Twilight then removed her hoof and I knew what she was saying; she was worried that I would give her a cold too. "Oh yeah, sorry. I forgot." I said before I chuckled slightly.

Even though I understood completely, I was kinda disappointed that I wouldn't be able to kiss her until my cold went away. But my disappointment was lifted by Twilight kissing my cheek.

We then smiled sweetly at each other again before Twilight laid her head on my shoulder.

We both lied there enjoying the warmth of the fire and the comfort we shared, the only sound that could be heard was the fire crackling and the sniffing noises I was making.

The next morning

The sun rose in Ponyville, I slowly opened my eyes to see I was in my bed.

As I leaned up on the bed, I felt a pounding pain in my forehead and I held my hoof against it. I tried to sniff my nose only to feel it was slightly more blocked inside, I could barely breathe in through one of my nostrils.

Just then, I felt a tickling feeling in my nose and I sneezed loudly. I was so dizzy and I felt as though I was going to puke.

I managed to climb out of bed before I slowly walked towards the stairs. Once I reached them, I started to walk down them. However, I sneezed once again and I nearly fell down the stairs.

Once down stairs, I walked into the kitchen to see Twilight, Spike, Jeff and Peewee eating their breakfast. "T…T-Twilight…" I said weakly.

Twilight then turned her head to face me before she gasped loudly, I was surprised by her sudden gasp. "Twi…w-what's wro-…ooooh." I groaned as I felt the ponding pain in my forehead again.

Twilight then rushed up to me with a worried look. "Matt…you look terrible, are you feeling ok?"

I wondered what she meant by that. "W-What do you mean I look terrible?" I asked weakly.

Twilight's horn glowed before a hand mirror appeared in a flash of light, she then held it in front of me and I was shocked at what I saw.

My face was slightly pale, I had black around my eyes which were slightly blood-shot, my nose was red, and my mane was ruffled. "Oooh…shit, I do look terrible." I said.

With a flash of light, the mirror disappeared and Twilight placed her hoof on my forehead, she then pulled it away. "Oh no, you're burning up. You're cold must've gone worse over-night."

I was figured the same thing, I felt really terrible. But I didn't want her to worry so much about me, I wanted to be strong for her and try to fight it. My ears lowered as I felt my throat sting. "I-It's alright, Twi. Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

Twilight raised her eye brow. "You're most certainly not fine, you can barely stand. You cold's gone worse, I think you need to see a doctor." She said.

I wanted to reject and tell her not to worry, but another pounding pain in my forehead convinced me that she was right, as usual.

"O-Ok, Twilight…we'll go after breakfa-…brea-…(AH-TUE)." I sneezed loudly while covering my mouth with my hooves, sneezing that hard made my head spin.

I placed my hooves back on the floor and Twilight gave me a concerned look.

"We're not going after anything, we're going right now!" she said in a serious voice before she helped me walk towards the front door.

As I walked towards the door while sniffling my nose, Twilight looked back at Spike, Jeff and Peewee. "Can you guys watch the library while we're gone?" she asked.

Spike nodded. "Sure, Twilight. We can do that." He said.

"Thanks, guys. We'll be back later." Twilight stated before she and I walked out the library and closed the door behind us, we both then set off towards the hospital.

Later: Ponyville hospital

After arriving at the hospital, Twilight and I were waiting in the waiting-room for the doctor to call us in.

I kept wishing he'd call us in already, my cold felt as though it was getting worse by the minute. The headache I had wasn't coming and going anymore, it was now staying and making me suffer.

I kept sniffing and sneezing, which wasn't helping me or Twilight feel better about it at all. In fact, I think Twilight grew more concerned with how worse I was getting.

As we waited, the rest of the main 6 quickly entered the waiting-room and rushed up to us. "We came as soon as we heard." Applejack stated with a worried look on her face.

Twilight gave her a wondering look. "How'd you all know we were here?" she asked.

"We went over to your place and you weren't in, then Spike told us that you brought Matt here because he was sick." Rainbow Dash explained as she hovered in mid-air.

Twilight looked up at her. "He is, I'm so worried about him. I mean, just look at him!" she said before she turned her head to look at me sitting beside her.

They all then looked at the state I was in, they all then gave me concerned looks. Fluttershy came up to me. "Oh, you poor thing." she said sweetly as she stroked my mane.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie shot up beside her and looked right at my pale face. "Ooh, how's his face turning a different colour like that? Is he must be part-chameleon? That would explain why his coat's green all the time." She said with a smile.

They all looked at her with awkward looks before they looked back at me. "Sweetie, you look dreadful." Rarity stated.

Applejack nodded while looking at me. "She's right, you're not lookin' so good there, sugar cube. And I can't help but feel it's my fault you're in this mess."

Rarity looked at her with a raised eye brow. "How come it's your fault? What happened to him?" she asked.

Applejack turned her head to face her. "Matt was out in the storm yesterday doin' his work. If I had only known that storm was comin', I would've given him the day off and this wouldn't have happened." She explained.

Rainbow Dash then flew up to her. "No, it's kinda more my fault. I knew that storm was scheduled to happen, I should've told you before it started." She said with slight sorrow.

After hearing all this, I raised my hoof. "It's no one's fault, I don't blame anyone. Anyway, it's more my own fault. Jeff wanted to go home, but I chose to stay out there and finish the job. Jeff went home and kept wor-…wor-…(AH-TUE)" I sneezed again with my hooves over my mouth.

"Don't talk, Matt. Try and keep your strength." Twilight said as she wrapped her arm around me and pulled me closer to her for comfort, everyone sat down in front of us and waited for the doctor to come.

Just then, the doctor Unicorn pony walked in the room though the double-doors, he then used his magic to hover a clip-board in front of him and looked at it. "Alright…Mr Matthew, you're next." He announced.

With that, Twilight and I got up and walked towards him with the rest of the main 6 following behind.

Once the doctor noticed us, he turned around and walked out the double-doors with all of us following behind.

He took us to his medical room and I was sitting on the edge of a medical bed, Twilight was sat on the floor in front of the bed.

"It's been a while since I last saw you, Mr Matthew. But I must say, I was hoping to see you again under different circumstances than this." The doctor said as he came over to me with a stethoscope around his neck.

I then sniffed my nose loudly again. "Yeah, me too. So can you help me?" I asked.

"Well, I'll certainly try. First, I need to check your heart rate." The doctor stated before his horn glowed and the chest-piece of his stethoscope hovered up and placed itself against my chest, it felt cold.

The doctor used his magic to place the ear-pieces in his ears and listened carefully.

"Ah-huh…ah-huh…hmm…alright, I believe I've figured out the problem." The doctor stated as he took the chest-piece away and the ear-pieces out his ear.

"You seem to have caught a bad feather. If you feel cold, that'll be the illness getting worse. Speaking roughly, I'd say it'll get worse though out the day." The doctor explained as he walked over to his drawers and started searching through them.

Twilight gave me a worried look before she looked back at the doctor. "You can cure him, right?" she asked.

The doctor waved his hoof as he continued to search through his drawers. "Of course I can, we just need to insert the medicine into him." He explained.

I raised my eye brow. "And how are you gonna do that? Do I drink it, or something?" I asked, I didn't get an answer.

"Ah, here it is." The doctor said as he used his magic to pull out an empty medium sized syringe with a short needle on it.

Once I saw it, my eyes widened as I felt fear shoot up along my body. If there was any ounce of green left on my face, it was now gone as my face went completely pale with fright. My heart raced as I thought of what the doctor was planning to do. "…That's a big needle." I said in a high-pitched voice.

The doctor walked over to a table which had a lot of medicine vials on it, he dipped the needle into one and sucked up the medicine until the syringe was full. "Don't worry, Mr Matthew! This won't hurt a bit." he said.

"Says him, I remember when I first had one of these when I was little, it was horrible. And don't get me started on the blood tests I use to have when I was ill! Sure, I had numbing cream to make my arm numb before they'd stick it in me, but I don't have any here. Oh crap, this is gonna hurt." I thought as my breathing grew heavier and heavier.

Twilight then walked up to the doctor and looked at the syringe in wonder. "So what will this do the help Matt? I'm kinda curious." She said.

The doctor gave her a small smile before he started explaining it to her. I then looked at the others to see they weren't looking at me; they were all focusing on what the doctor was saying. At that moment, I grew a devious and tricky idea.

"No way am I gonna sit here and let this guy stick that thing in me. Maybe if I'm real quiet, I can sneak out of here without them seeing me." I thought.

I then slowly and quietly slid off the bed and crept towards the door, I had to stop a few times because I thought one of my friends was gonna turn around. But eventually, I made it to the door and slipped out the room. I then galloped down the hall towards the exit.

"But anyway, we should get this over with. Alright, Mr Matthew, just relax and this will be over in no ti-" the doctor didn't finish his sentence as he noticed my absence.

Twilight and the others turned around and saw I was missing. "Err…where'd he go?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out." Twilight said with a firm look in her eyes.

An hour later: clouds above Ponyville

Above the streets of Ponyville, I was hiding up on top of a small cloud.

I kept thinking to myself how I could have done that, how I just ran away because of a needle. "I can't believe I just did that, I'm such a coward, running away from a simple little needle." I said to myself as I lied on my stomach on the cloud.

I then thought of the pain I would've experienced if I did stay. I wasn't sure if it would hurt or not, but I wasn't willing to take risks, not after remembering my past injections.

"On second thought, I'd rather be sick then purposely stabbed any day. I've had colds in the past, and they went away easily. This one is no different to the re-(COUGH, COUGH)" I couldn't finish my sentence as I coughed loudly.

I could tell this was what the doctor was talking about when he said the cold would grow worse through the day. By now, my green coat was completely white and the brown in my mane & tail had become dim, my eyes had also become more blood shot.

But I didn't care, I was willing to put up with anything to stay the hell away from that needle.

"MATT!" an angry female voice yelled from below me.

I peeked down from the cloud to see Twilight and the rest of the main 6 all looking up at me with angry looks. "Matt, you get down here right now!" Twilight yelled up to me.

I curled myself up on the cloud, hoping they'd think I wasn't there and go away. "Matthew, we know you're up there. We can see your tail dangling off the edge of the cloud." I heard Rarity say.

I looked back at my tail to see she was right, I then pulled in my tail and pretended I wasn't there. However, Twilight and the others saw me pull my tail in.

"I take it he's not going to make this easy." Rarity stated with narrow eyes.

"I'll get him down." Twilight said before her horn glowed.

Suddenly, the cloud beneath me turned completely black before it started to rain. As rain fell down from the cloud, I felt myself sink within the cloud and I struggled to stay on it.

After a second, I sunk through the cloud and fell down to the ground yelling loudly with my eyes closed. Just before I could hit the ground, I felt something stop.

I then opened my eyes to see I was being held upside down in Twilight's magic, my face was right in front of hers as she gave me a firm look.

I smiled nervously. "Haha…hey, sweetie." I said.

"Don't hey, sweetie me! I want to know why you ran off like that when we were about to give you your medicine." Twilight said in a firm voice.

I didn't blame her for being angry, I acted like a total wimp back there. But I couldn't tell them I was afraid of needles, they'd never stop laughing if I did. I thought as I was still held upside down.

"Well?" Twilight said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Ok, I'll tell you. Can you at least put me down first?" I asked.

Twilight then flipped me back around before she placed me gently on the ground on my hooves. "Now what happened back there?" Twilight asked still giving me a firm look.

I quickly thought about what I was going to tell her. "Well…you see…I needed to go to the bathroom…I couldn't go through something like that with a full bladder." I lied.

"What do you mean by something like that?" Twilight asked with a raised eye brow.

Just then, Pinkie Pie cutted in. "Yeah, and you could've used the bathroom there, you know." She said.

"Well…I..err…" I said trying to think of something to say.

Before I could, Rainbow Dash flew up to my face with a suspecting look. "And if you were going to the bathroom, how is it you ended up on that cloud?" she said looking me dead in the eyes.

I backed away from her as I began to sweat from nervousness. "Well, I was…I…I can't tell you." I said with my head hanging slightly.

"Tell us what? Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?" Rainbow Dash asked, Twilight and the rest of the main 6 all eyed me as they waited for an answer.

"Look, I just can't. You'd all probably think I'm some sort of wimp if I di-(COUGH, COUGH, COUGH)" I coughed loudly again; causing me to kneel to the ground.

Twilight's firm look turned into a concerned one as she rushed up to me and helped me back up. "Matt, you're getting worse. We have to get you back to the hospital and give you that shot." She said slightly calmer.

Once I heard that, my eyes shot open and I flew up in the air. "No way, I'm not going back there. That doctor ain't poking me with anything." I stated before I shot off away from them; surprising them all.

"AFTER'IM!" Applejack yelled before they all galloped after me, Rainbow Dash flew off like a bullet to try and catch me.

I flapped as hard as I could to get away, but Twilight and the others were surprisingly catching up with me. I tried to flap harder with all the strength I had left.

As they galloped through the streets, Twilight and the others had determined looks on their faces. Applejack then looked ahead and noticed something.

She saw a lasso hanging from a hook on the side of one of the houses; she then gained an idea and grinned. As Applejack galloped past the lasso, she grabbed it with her mouth and turned her attention back up to me.

Applejack then galloped ahead of the others before she started twirling the lasso around above her head.

Once she was close enough and gained a good shot, she tossed the lasso up towards me and it wrapped around my waist.

I felt it tighten around my waist and I let out a loud gagging noise. I turned my head around and looked down to see the other end of the lasso was being held in Applejack's mouth. I then turned my head back around and continued flying through the streets.

Suddenly, Applejack stopped galloping and tugged back hard on the lasso; forcing me to come to a sudden stop. I gagged loudly as I felt the tight rope pull back against my waist.

"We got'cha now." Applejack muffled with her teeth holding the rope tight, she then started to pull me down to her.

I felt myself being pulled back towards the ground, but I couldn't give up now. I started to flap my wings hard again and the rope between me and Applejack straightened tightly.

Applejack togged back harder as I tried to keep flying, I eventually felt myself start to slowly move in the air. Applejack tried to fight it, but she was started to get dragged along the ground; causing soil to gather in front of her front hooves.

Eventually, Applejack was starting to lift off the ground, but she wouldn't let go of the rope.

I then finally managed to shoot off through the air and Applejack flew off the ground. I was now pulling Applejack behind me through the air.

Applejack's eyes were forced to squint as the wind blew hard in her face, she rocked left and right as she kept hold of the rope.

Meanwhile, Twilight and the others were still galloping behind. Twilight looked up in shock at the sight of Applejack being pulled behind me through the air.

"Why is Matt acting like this? He was fine this morning. Whatever it is, it has to be something to do with the hospital; he's really determined to stay away from there." Twilight thought as she kept galloping.

As I kept flying as fast as I could, I looked behind me to see that Applejack was still holding onto the rope for dear life and determination with her eyes shut tight.

I had to give her credit, it was impressive how she could hold on for this long, I can't even hold on to Rainbow Dash for this long without crashing or giving up. Applejack was one pretty strong pony.

I then turned my attention back to where I was flying; I then saw something up ahead.

It was a female Earth pony walking across the street while pulling a cart filled with hay along behind her. I then looked back at Applejack before I grinned as I thought of an idea, I then shot off towards the hay filled cart with Applejack flying behind.

I then shot passed the cart right above the hay pile; gaining the attention of the Earth pony.

Applejack managed to open one of her eyes and saw the hay pile coming up in front of her, her eyes shot open in shock before she safely crashed inside it; causing her to let go of the rope.

As I kept flying, I turned my head around to look back at the hay stack she was now stuck in. "Sorry." I yelled before I turned my head back around and focused on my flying.

The Earth pony noticed Applejack crash in her hay pile. "HEY!" she said loudly with annoyance.

Applejack's head then popped out from the tip of the hay pile, she had hay in her mouth and hay sticking out from under her hat.

Applejack then spat out the hay in her mouth. "Yeah…lots of hay." She responded with her eyes in a daze.

The Earth pony just rolled her eyes, Applejack then shook off her daze to see Twilight and the others gallop up to her. "Applejack, are you alright?" Fluttershy asked with concern.

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." She answered before she turned her head around to see me flying away fast. "Woow…he really doesn't wanna go back to that hospital." She stated.

"I don't know what's at the hospital that's got him so spooked, but it must be something serious if he doesn't want to go back. But we need to catch him and take him back, or else his cold's just gonna get worse." Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash then took off into the air. "I'll get him." She stated before she shot off after me.

Twilight and the others then went around the cart before galloping off after her, Applejack jumped out of the hay pile before she followed them; leaving the Earth pony with a confused look. "What…just happened?" she asked herself.

Meanwhile, I was still flying as fast as I could around Ponyville. I looked behind me to see Twilight and the others were far behind, I exhaled it relief.

"Sorry, guys. But the last thing I'm gonna do is let that doctor stick a needle in m-AHH." I yelled as something tackled me from above.

I managed to turn my head around to see it was Rainbow Dash who had tackled me, she was trying to wrap her arms around me, but I fought back and tried to throw her off.

"Matt…this…has gone on long enough, why won't…ah…you tell us why you won't go back to the hospital?" Rainbow Dash said as we both struggled against each other.

"Because I CAN'T." I yelled.

We made many twists and turns as we wrestled through the air around town, there were times were we nearly crashed into houses but luckily avoided them.

All the ponies in town watched us with wide-eyes as we shot over their heads, Twilight and the rest of the main 6 tried their best not to lose us.

As we continued this dangerous act, we didn't notice the Town Hall coming up ahead.

We tossed and turned in the air before Rainbow Dash pushed her hoof against my cheek to try and keep my head away while she attempted to grab hold of me.

With my left eyes covered by her hoof, I could only see through my right eye. It then shot wider once I saw the Town Hall coming up ahead fast.

"R-Rainbow!" I yelled, Rainbow Dash then looked ahead and went wide-eyed with shock as it look like we were gonna crash into the building.

Rainbow Dash acted fast, she pushed me away and we both caught a different wind; allowing us to fly around the Town Hall and miss it all together.

Once I was around the Town Hall, I looked around to see that Rainbow Dash had suddenly vanished. I looked all around for her but I couldn't see her anywhere. "This isn't right, I can't have lost her that easily." I said to myself.

As I began to think I was in the clear, Rainbow Dash suddenly shot down from nowhere onto my back and covered my eyes with her front hooves. I couldn't see a thing, I started to fly uncontrollably.

"Rainbow Dash, get off! I can't see." I yelled as I started flying in different directions like crazy, but she didn't listen and kept her hooves over my eyes. I decided it was best for me to slow down slightly, but we were still going rather fast.

However, I was slow enough for Twilight and the others to finally catch up. They saw what Rainbow Dash was doing and watched as I swirled in the air with her on my back.

"Ok, I'm tired of this now. Time to put a stop to this once and for all." Rainbow Dash thought as she grew tired of all this fuss.

She then spread out her wings and tried to take control of our flight pattern, but my wing movement mixed with hers caused us to start moving around uncontrollably.

As my vision was darkened, I felt myself bobbing up and down and leaning left and right in the air. I had no idea where I was going or why I couldn't control my flying.

It got to the point where Rainbow Dash and I started wobbling until we finally lost control and was forced to split apart as we fell out the sky.

Twilight and the others gasped loudly as they saw us fall.

And to make things even worse, Rainbow Dash and I crash landed in a mud filled ditch.

Due to the recent heavy rain, the mud we had crashed in was wet and sloppy. Also, it had made the mud very cold.

As I sat up out of the sloppiness, I felt the cold mud against my body and I wrapped my arms around myself as I began to shiver. I then felt my nose tickle before I let out another loud sneeze, I was colder than ever.

Behind me, Rainbow Dash got up from the mud with a dazed look. "Ha…got ya now, you…you…" she didn't finish her sentence as she fell back down into the mud.

At that moment, Twilight and the others rushed up to the ledge of the ditch and looked down at us. "Matt, are you ok?" Twilight asked in concern.

I looked up to her. "Y-Yeah…(sniff)…I-I think so…" I said weakly.

Twilight then exhaled. "That's good to hear….because you're in big trouble." She said in a sudden firm voice.

My ears lowered and I looked down at the mess I was in, my coat was stained with mud. "I know." I said quietly.

Twilight's horn then glowed before Rainbow Dash and I lifted out of the ditch and was placed down in front of her, I continued to hold myself as I shivered like crazy.

Rainbow Dash then woke back up and sat up, she groaned as she rubbed her head with her hoof. "Did…did we get him?" she asked.

Rarity walked up to her, but kept a safe distance to stay away from the mud on Rainbow's coat. "Yes, we did. Now we can get some answers straight from the pony's mouth." She said as she looked over to me.

"Yeah, let's start with why ya ran out of the hospital!" Applejack said as she gave me a sharp look in the eye, I felt so small in her gaze.

"I already told you, I can't tell you why I left the ho-…ho-…(AH-TUE, AH-TUE, COUGH, COOOOOUGH)" I coughed louder than ever, it hurt my chest so much that I was forced to my knees and hold myself up with my front hooves.

Twilight's firm look changed into a look of pure worry, she had never seen me cough or sneeze that loudly since I grew sick. She rushed to my side and helped me back up.

"Matt, please. You're getting sicker by the minute; I can't stand to see you in this state any longer. Please…please tell us what's wrong! We just want to help you." Twilight said.

I looked in her eyes to see how upset and worried she was about this, seeing it made me want to hold her as tight as I could and tell her how sorry I was for putting her through all this. I looked around to see the rest of my friends had the same look.

As I sniffed my nose once last time before I let out a small sigh. "I don't want to go back because…because…I'm afraid." I admitted with my ears low.

Twilight and the others looked at each other in confusion; they then looked back to me. "Afraid? You're afraid of the hospital?" Pinkie Pie asked with a surprised tone.

I looked at her. "No, I'm not afraid of the hospital." I stated.

"The doctor?" Fluttershy asked.

I turned my head to face her. "No, not him either." I stated.

"The magazines you read while in the waiting room?...because if so, I wouldn't blame you. I myself find them rather…gloomy." Rarity said.

I turned my head to face her. "As much as I agree with you on that, I'm not scared of the magazines. I'm scared of…OF NEEDLES." I yelled in despair before I hid my face in my hooves.

Twilight and the others were silent; they all looked at each other before they looked back at me. "Needles? As in, the injection the doctor was gonna give you?" Twilight asked in a calm voice.

I kept my hooves over my face as I nodded slightly.

They were all silent before Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. "HAHAHA, is that it? That's the reason you ran away? HAHAHA, you big chicken, HAHAHA." She laughed loudly, this didn't make me feel any better about myself.

Rainbow Dash was then forced to stop laughing by Applejack grabbing her tail and tugging her back down onto the ground. Applejack then gave her a firm look before she walked over to me.

Applejack sat beside me before she placed her hoof on my back. "Matt, how could you be scared as somethin' as simple and small as a needle? It's just a tiny prick." She stated.

I then removed my hooves and looked at her. "Maybe to you, but I've had past experiences with needles. I had blood tests where they stick a needle in your arm and suck out some of your blood, do you know how uncomfortable that feels?" I asked.

"But this isn't a blood test, this is a small shot which will cure your cold which by the way, is getting more worse the more we wait here." Rarity said with narrow eyes.

"She's right, Matt. The more time we waste, the sicker you'll become. You really need to come back and have that shot." Twilight said.

"I…I just don't like the idea of having a needle stuck into me on purpose." I said as I looked down at the ground.

"Come on, Mattie! You're the guy who took on Thorn and saved the day, you knew he was gonna hurt you at some point, you didn't seem scared then." Pinkie Pie said.

I looked at her. "Those were risks, I didn't see them coming and I tried to prevent him from hurting me. With something like a needle, you have to sit there knowing they're gonna stick it in you." I explained.

"Matt, look at me." I heard Twilight say.

I then turned my head to face her and look into her beautiful eyes. "I know you're afraid to get hurt, but if you don't stand up to your fear, your cold's gonna get worse and you'll feel more pain then any needle can make." she said with an honest voice.

She was right, I was gonna get worse if I didn't go back. But remembering the feeling of the needle in my arm sent shivers up my spine. "I…I don't know, Twilight." I said.

"I promise you…it won't hurt as much as you think it will, you just have to trust me." Twilight said before she placed her hoof on mine. "…Don't you trust me?" she asked.

I looked into her eyes, I saw the sadness and the worry deep inside them. I felt like such a coward for everything I had done today, I acted like such a school colt. I was ashamed of myself, and there was only one way to redeem myself.

"I…I do trust you, Twilight…I'll go back, I'll go back for you." I said.

Twilight then gave me a sweet smile before she slowly wrapped her arms around me and hugged me; not caring if mud was getting on her gorgeous clean coat. "I'll help you through it, we'll beat it together." I heard her say.

I then hugged her tighter as the rest of the main 6 watched us with warm smiles.

Later: Ponyville hospital

After getting myself cleaned up, we returning to the hospital and I was now once again sitting on the bed in the doctor's medical room. Only this time, Twilight was sitting next to me on the bed.

I breathed heavily as I watched the doctor stick the needle tip into the vial of medication, I then felt a hoof touch mine. I turned my head to see Twilight with an honest look. "It'll be ok." She whispered.

I smiled warmly at her before I took a deep breath.

"Alright, let's try this again, shall we?" the doctor said as he walked up to me with the full syringe hovering beside him.

I looked at it with a slightly frightened look before I closed my eyes tight and stuck my arm out to the doctor. "Alright, nice and easy." I heard the doctor say as he gently took my arm with his hoof.

I tensed us as I waited to feel the needle poke through my skin, I closed my eyes tighter as I whimpered silently.

"Ok, all done, Mr Matthew." I heard the doctor say, my eyes shot wide open in surprise and shock. I looked at my arm to see a small dap of blood seeping out of it.

"Wait…that's it?" I asked the doctor as he walked across the room.

The doctor then returned to me. "That's it." he repeated before he placed a small band-aid over the small dot on my arms.

"See, you barely felt it." Twilight said with a pleased smile.

I blushed from embarrassment, the moment felt so awkward as I thought about all the trouble I caused to avoid nothing but a harmless poke.

"Well…I feel like a total idiot right now." I said out loud.

Twilight giggled before she jumped off the bed and walked towards the door. "Come on, you big green lump. Let's go home, we should've been back hours ago." She said.

I then looked at the doctor. "Emm…thanks, I guess." I said as I rubbed the back of my head with my hoof.

He smiled. "You're welcome. And don't worry! You're cold should be cured by tomorrow afternoon." He stated.

I nodded. "Ok, thanks again. bye." I said before I jumped off the bed and followed Twilight out the door to leave the hospital and go home.

The next day: Library

It was late in the afternoon and the doctor was right, my cold had gone completely.

My coat was light green again, my mane and tail were fully brown again, and my eyes weren't blood shot anymore. It felt good to be my own colour again.

Twilight was glad I was better, I could tell she was really worried about me when I was ill. Which of course, made me feel worse about running away and making things worse for both of us.

But with Twilight's help, I was able to overcome my fears and I was now back to my old self. I told Twilight this and she pointed out that I may have learned a lesson about friendship.

Once I realised she was right, I asked Spike to take a letter.

Me and Spike were now sitting in the kitchen, Spike was holding a quill and scroll as he waited for me to tell him what to write. I cleared my throat before I began.

"Dear, Princess Celestia.

I've recently learned that ponies have strong fears that they may do almost anything to avoid, even the bravest of ponies can be afraid of the smallest of things. But with your friends by your side, they can help you learn how to conquer your fears and master them. And you should never be afraid to admit your fears to your friends, because if they don't know, they can't help.

Your friend, Matthew."

Once I was finished, Spike rolled up the scroll before he breathed his green fire on it. It turned into a small cloud of smoke before it flew out the window and shot up towards Canterlot.

Once the letter was sent, Twilight came into the kitchen and came up beside me. "Did you write the letter for the Princess?" she asked with a smile.

I turned my head to face her and nodded. "Yeah…and…I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused yesterday, Twilight. I was…acting like a total coward. I don't know why the Element of Bravery chose me, how can I represent the Element if I'm scared of a little needle? I don't think I deserve it, Twi." I said with my ears low.

Twilight then wrapped her arm around me. "Oh, Matt. Of course you deserve it. It's ok to be afraid of something, everyone has to a fear of something, even you. You're brave against so many other things, like the night you risked your own life to stop Thorn. Times like that are what make you worthy of representing the Element, you don't have to brave against every little thing. You may have wings, but you're no chicken." She said kindly.

I smiled warmly at her for what she said. "So you forgive me?" I asked.

Twilight then hugged me warmly. "Of course I do, I'm just so happy you're not sick anymore." She said.

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged back. "Thanks, Twi…I love you." I said.

"I love you too, Matt." Twilight said as we continued hugging, Spike smiled warmly at the sight of us.

After a few minutes, we broke the hug and Twilight smirked at me. "But seriously, I didn't think of you as one to be scared of needles."

I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, kinda silly now that I think about it." I said as I rubbed the back of my head with my hoof.

Twilight giggled. "Yeah, sort of funny too. I mean…the brave Matthew, fearless in the face of danger, yet petrified in the face of a tiny needle."

I chuckled. "Hey, that does sound a little funny." I said, Twilight and I then started laughing harder at the thought of it.

Just then, something caught Twilight's eye which made her look down at the floor with fright. I noticed this before I turned around and looked down at what she was staring at.

It was a small door mouse scurrying across the kitchen floor, it looked up at us and let out a small squeak.

"AHHH, MOUSE! MOUSE! MOUSE!" Twilight screamed as she backed away quickly.

I looked at her with a raised eye brow. "Twilight, it's just a tiny mouse, Fluttershy has loads of them." I stated.

"I don't care, get rid of it! MAKE IT GO AWAY! AHH." Twilight screamed loudly as she galloped out of the kitchen, I heard her hooves clop against the stairs as she ran upstairs. I then heard a door slam shut, she must've gone in the guest room.

I looked back down at the mouse to see it scurry towards a broom stick leaning against the wall, the top of the broom was leaning against a window.

The mouse climb up a broom until it reached the window sill and scratched its tiny paws against the glass, I walked over to it before I pushed the window open. The mouse then jumped out the window and scurried off towards town.

Me and Spike could still hear Twilight's hooves as they clopped stomped against the guest room floor.

I thought about how awkward this was, I was afraid of needles, and now it turns out Twilight was afraid of mice. I looked at Spike with a large smirk. "Twilight never fails to amuse me." I said.

Spike chuckled. "I know, right." he answered with a smirk.

With a smirk still on my face, I walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I walked up the guest room door and knocked on it. "Twilight, the mouse is gone, you can come out now." I said through the door.

The door the slowly opened and Twilight stuck her head out. "Are you sure?" she asked with fright in her eyes.

I gave her an honest smile. "I'm sure, come on out." I said.

Twilight then opened the door completely and walked out the guest room, she looked down at the floor and blushed from embarrassment. "Well that was…kinda awkward, wasn't it?" she asked with a sheepish smile.

I chuckled before I smiled at her. "Yep, but just remember all that stuff you said to me. It's normal to be afraid." I said.

Twilight let out a small sigh. "You're right, now I know how you felt when you saw that needle. You're worst fears can really get to you, huh?" she said.

I cocked my head. "Twilight, needles are my old worst fear. I have a new one now." I said.

"Really, what is it?" Twilight asked curiously.

I then took Twilight's hoof in mine and smiled sweetly at her. "…Losing you…and our friends." I said.

Twilight then gave me a sweet smile before she leaped onto me and wrapped her arms around me, I was surprised by this before I smiled warmly again and hugged her back.

After a few minutes, we broke the hug and smiled lovingly at each other. "Wanna cuddle for a while?" I asked.

Twilight giggled. "I'd like that." She answered.

Me and Twilight then walked over to our bed before we climbed up onto it, we both then lied down on it before we wrapped our arms around each other.

Twilight then rested her head on my chest and closed her eyes as I gently stroked her soft mane with my hoof.

I managed to kiss her forehead before I rested my head on the pillow behind me and closed my eyes. We both relaxed as we lied there and enjoyed each other's cuddle.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

BTW, I don't really act like this when I have to have an injection. That was written just for fun and to add more thrill to it. True, I'm frightened of them, but I don't run away.

I really hope this chapter hasn't made you look at this Matt differently than you normally do, because it wasn't supposed to.

P.S. Just to let the rest of you MLP fans know, the complete first season of the show is now out on DVD exclusively on . I've already ordered one.

Please remember to review!

The next chapter will be up soon, merry Christmas to you all :D